Fox Hunt with Manco Wounded Hare
The hunt for any animal is good when you know its habits and routine of life. Fox is no exception. There are no ways to hunt for it: they hunt day and night, with hounds and huskies. Each hunter-hunter, as a rule, has its own special way, the most experienced foxes lure a wounded hare.
How to lure a fox
And although I really love fox hunting and have already sewn two fox fur coats and a hat, I don’t have my own hunting method. But I’m curious to find out how others hunt, and then try it myself. So I took part in a pen on a fox in the fields and in the woods, with hounds, shot from under the burrowed dogs, sat in backfits, walked skradom. True, I never went hunting alone, but always took as my partner an experienced and knowledgeable hunter who had a lot to learn. Therefore, it can be said that the majority of foxes obtained are not entirely my merit …
Somehow I had a chance to hunt a fox in a steppe area. We spent several days in the steppes in a small group of five people, but the hunt was not too mined. And on the last day, when part of the hunters went home, I went hunting together with an avid hunter, known throughout the county. That day he introduced me and showed in practice the most interesting way of fox hunting, which I, of course, heard and read about, but I saw and took part for the first time.
This hunter had an extraordinary talent. He knew how to lure a fox, surprisingly accurately reproducing the squeak of a mouse, the voices of various birds, and most importantly, the cry of a wounded hare. He spent the whole day teaching me this art with pleasure. The desire, as you understand, was great, but my modest possibilities and poor ear for music allowed me to learn only a mouse squeak …
We stopped on the outskirts of a huge field, cut by a gentle ravine. The sun was shining brightly, the whiteness of the snow was cutting its eyes, but everything was perfectly visible through binoculars with a blend and a weak gray filter. Two red foxes jumped in the middle of the field. They “moussed” and played among themselves. The partner handed me the binoculars, and when I began to watch the foxes, I squeaked a little “mouse” – one long and three short squeaks. I saw that one fox was on the alert and, turning the muzzle, carefully looked in our direction. It was surprising that from such a distance she hears a sound, because between us there were more than 200 meters, and the wind was blowing from them. After standing for 3-4 seconds, the foxes again went about their business. Comrade, waiting for the wind to calm down, again “squeaked”. Fox again alert and suddenly moved in our direction. The other remained in place. My mentor nudged me slightly, prompting me to action. I took the fuse off the rifle and got ready, knowing that he gave the shot right to the guest, that is, to me. We stood, crouching behind the bushes, afraid to move. The fox climbed the knoll in front of the ravine, stood, and, without haste, moved down the slope. “Everything, you can shoot.” Turned on automatic control shot, worked out many years of practice. The shotgun flew up to the shoulder, the bed to the cheek … The shot … Fox managed to notice the movement and crouched to jump, but she was thrown up with a shot charge …
We circled for a long time in the fields and ravines, stopping and looking through all the suspicious places through binoculars, but the foxes no longer met.
In the evening of the same day, returning home and having supper, we decided to go hunting again and try another way of hunting. The moon was shining high, everything was clearly visible in the snow. It was not far to walk: from the village 500 meters along the road and about a kilometer across the field on skis. In our bag we had a hare’s tail wrapped in pelt: leftover from the roast of two hares caught the day before. My partner, leaving me at the top of the forest, went skiing down the slope into a ravine. Choosing a place where it would be convenient to shoot, 30-40 meters away from me, I laid out the warm remnants of the hare from my backpack and, moving back along my own track, returned to me. For 30 minutes we sat silently and quietly, and only after that my comrade did not shout very loudly like a wounded hare. The cry was like a baby cry, even the goosebumps on the back ran. After 20 minutes, he repeated his cry, but quieter than last time. And once again there was complete silence. They waited long enough, and that’s good luck! .. Something flashed in the bushes, and on the lighted area, the fox stuck out its face. When she, looking around a little and listening, came into the light, you could shoot, but I deliberately hesitated until she approached the fire and began to eat …
After returning home, I learned to scream “wounded hare” at midnight. The instructor showed how to hold the lips, tongue, how to cover the mouth with the palm, so that the sound was expressive. I was making progress and, following my mentor, then squealed “with the mouse”, then screamed like a hare. About two o’clock in the morning we managed to “lure” one hunter from the neighboring house. The company succeeded. We drank a little and finished the roast hare for a snack, shared a hunting reserve of funny stories and anecdotes. I realized that in order to lure the fox, it was not enough to learn how to scream in the voice of prey, which, however.
